


Starting Anew

by ReeAni



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-04-22 23:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14319075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReeAni/pseuds/ReeAni
Summary: Beginning school, one thinks of making new friends, passing classes, and not getting into TOO much trouble. Just having an all around normal school life. How hard is that?





	1. The Entrance Exam

     In the city of Domino, the sky was clear with the sun bearing down on people going on about their business. The grass and flowers swayed from a passing breeze every once in a while. It looked like heaven. Actually, anything would be heaven right now if it meant going outside.

Laviss huffed with discontent.

She envied the people below her. They didn’t have to endure four hours inside a stuffy old room with nothing to do. She sighed loudly. The only thing keeping her company was a wooden chair that was far from comfy, two fake potted plants and an abstract painting of a bird holding a giant hook or at least that’s what she thought it was. Her only source of entertainment was the large window overlooking the city. Although people-watching was fun, it got old after two hours.

The girl turned around and glared at the thing keeping her in. The long dark oak door innocently stood across from her as she scrunched up her face. Laviss would have walked out ages ago, had it not been for the stupid door that locked from the outside. She knew someone had orders to keep her in and she had a strong feeling at who it was.

Her eyes glared harder at the door. “Honestly! How can they do this to me? I’m not a child!” she cried.

Laviss bit her lip in frustration as the room fell into silence again. Irritated, she dropped herself on the gray carpet and ran a hand through her red hair. “How long does it take for three people to go over one stupid test?” she mumbled and dropped her hand on her lap.

She leaned her head back against the warm glass. A low buzzing noise echoed through the girl’s ear as she sat in silence once again. For a minute she contemplated whether or not it was worth jumping out of the window. But being on the sixth floor, she re-thought her plan of escape. What’s more, she wasn’t strong enough to break through glass.

The sun beamed down on her as she waited.

Time stood still in the room as her eyes gazed down at the crowd of students leaving the building. A mixture of sadness and jealousy ran through her as she saw boys and girls chatting and goofing off. She closed her eyes and daydreamed about her new school… the friends she could and would have.

She was excited.

The old door then creaked open, startling Laviss. She quickly opened her eyes and saw a man dressed in a full suit entered the room. Her lilac eyes stared at the manila folder he carried for a moment before she greeted him with a, “Hello”.

The man was about to return the gesture when he took a step back. He was surprised to find her on the ground. He looked at the chair in the back of the room then at her. “Err… Miss? Why are you on the floor?”

“Chair was uncomfortable,” she said with her arms crossed.

He nodded and gave her a quick bow. “My apologies, I’ll see to it you are better accommodated next time,” he said nervously. Laviss took his apology but knew he wasn’t going to do anything. The man cleared his throat before continuing. “Now after going over your written and dueling exam, the rest of the proctors and I would like to congratulate you on passing.” Laviss roll her eyes at the man’s lame praise. “You’re all set with registration, so you’re good to go.”

Her ears perked up at the word go. “So… I can leave?”

“Well…” The man hesitated as he saw her stand up. “I was told you are to remain within the perimeter of this building… but it is best if you stay–”

“I can’t leave the building,” Laviss summarized, “gotcha.” The man opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, trying to say something but Laviss didn’t let him. She gave him a smile and shook his hand. “Thank you for your hard work. I’ll be sure not to leave the premise!” she said and ran out of the room.

The man looked at his hand and took a while to realize that she was gone. “W–Wait! Miss! Your papers!!” he yelled. He waited for her to come back, but she didn’t. He thought she was already on one of the elevators. The man sighed and was thinking of sending someone to search for the girl when Laviss came back seething. With a glare, she grabbed the folder he had then ran back into the hallway.

Laviss ran left and right through the corridors until she hit the elevators. She rapidly pressed the button to go down and went in as soon as the doors open. Laviss panted as she punched a random button on the control panel. She was never good at running. However, the thought of being stuck in that room any longer made her legs spring into action. She would rather run to the ends of the earth than wait in that god-forsaken room again.

The ride down was short. With a soft ding, the doors re-opened onto another floor. Laviss stepped out and was taken back at the loud cheering and voices that were coming from two closed doors in front of her. Her eyes landed on a small golden stand with a red arrow reading: Practical Exams, Here.

She thought it over once before going through one of the doors. When Laviss walked in she was met with a large stadium filled with rows of seats and a mass amount of people. “Whoa.” Her eyes went big when she saw how many people there were. The shock went away when she saw several groups of people dueling one another. Fascinated, Laviss began walking around the arena.

Up above, a pair of glistening eyes followed her figure as she tried to find an available seat. The eyes stared at her with slight interest.

“Is something wrong?” said a voice behind them.

“No.” they grunted. The pair of eyes narrowed down then cast their gaze away from the redhead before anyone else saw then staring. Yet, it wasn’t long before the eyes stole another glance at the girl.

Sitting down, Laviss looked down to see what appeared to be the last duel. The proctor was an older man, dressed in a blue and white blazer uniform with black sunglasses. His opponent; on the other hand, was a boy in a gray school uniform with black hair slicked back.

“Whoa! Look at them go!!” said a voice behind her.

Laviss turn her head back just enough to see a boy with puffy brown hair and open black jacket. Next to him was a smaller boy in a blue school uniform. He had baby blue hair sticking and small glasses on the bridge of his nose. A loud boom made Laviss turn her attention back to the duel. The boy activated Ring of Destruction, winning him the duel.

“That last guy really tore it up!” said the boy in the jacket.

“Yeah, Bastion Misawa–they say he got the highest score on the written exam out of all us applicants.” said the shorter boy.

Laviss quickly turned around with her face in shock. “No way! You’re saying that guy,” she pointed at Bastion, “is ranked number one?!”

The little boy stared up at Laviss in fright. He struggled to say his words. All he managed to say was, “…Y–ye–yea?”

Laviss gave him a good look to see if he was lying, but her intense stare only made the boy sweat in fear. She couldn’t tell if he was telling the truth as his sweat tripled the longer she kept staring. Laviss turned her head back and glanced at the folder in the chair next to her. Her eyes were filled with slight regret.

“Wow… I just barely passed mines.” said the other boy.

“M–Me t–too.” stuttered the short boy. “M–My name’s S–Syrus, by the way. I–I… I don’t know how I won my match since I–I get test anxiety.”

“So? You’re in!!” His joyous voice easily scared Syrus again. “Congrats!! I’ll be in too once I win my duel.”

“You haven’t dueled yet?” Laviss asked. The boy shook his head happily.

“Th–Then you might have a problem. I–I think this was supposed to be the last duel,” said Syrus.

Within seconds the boy’s smile was gone and he started freaking out. The people around them turned to the overly anxious boy as he started to cry out how far he had gotten here and how bad he really wanted to be in this school.

“Whoa, calm down!” Laviss said with her hands up. “You did the written exam, right?” The boy nodded fast. “Then you shouldn’t worry.”

“How would you know!!?”

“It wouldn’t make sense if they just have you do only one part of the test.” Laviss crossed her arms. “That would be stupid of them.”

The boy slowly took in her advice then gave her a smile. “Yeah… you got a point there. Thanks… um–”

“Laviss,” she said and returned the gesture.

“I’m Jaden,” he said then spotted the boy named Bastion coming up the stairs and sat in the empty chair next to Laviss. “Tight duel Bastion!” he cried. Bastion politely thanked him as he took off his duel disk. “From the looks of it, you might just be the second best duelist here,” stated Jaden.

That caught everyone off guard. Laviss gave him a look. She didn’t realize he was the cocky type. Before Bastion had time to retaliate, a loud voice projected over the entire arena: “JADEN YUKI, PLEASE REPORT TO EXAM FIELD, NUMBER FOUR.”

Said boy jumped up with joy. “It’s go time! Wish me luck guys,” he said heading downstairs.

“Wait!” Bastion cried, stopping Jaden in his tracks. “If I’m second best, then who’s first?”

Jaden turned his head around. With a grin, he pointed to himself. “Yours truly!” he boasted. “It’s what I’m best at!!” The boy then continued on his way down.

“Wow! He’s so sure of himself,” said Syrus, amazed. “I wonder if he’s really good.”

“He’s going to need to be. Look at who he’s dueling.” Bastion said and nodded towards the duel arena.

On the field stood a tall lanky woman with long blonde hair kept in a neat ponytail. Her short bangs slightly touched her hard gaze towards Jaden, who was nothing but smiles as he approached the arena. She wore what looked to be a blue marching band outfit with gold trimmings and a pink ruffled shirt.

“Who’s that?” asked Laviss as she saw the lady be helped with her duel disk by two other girls in blue uniform.

“That is Dr. Vellian Crowler. He’s one of the professors at the Academy,” answered Bastion.

“EEEEHH!!” Laviss cried before she fell out of her seat. Everyone around them quickly turned towards their directions to see what happened. Several started to whisper at Laviss’ poor landing. She was on her back, her feet sticking up and leaning on the seat she was previously sitting on.

“Are… you alright?” asked Bastion. He stood up and held up a hand to her.

Laviss turned red as she heard snickering and giggling all around her. The girl bowed her head and mumbled something incoherent. Bastion was confused with what she was saying, but he said nothing as she took his hand. When she was back in her seat, everyone around them placed their attention to Jaden’s duel.

She shook her head. She couldn’t believe she mistook him for a woman. Seriously! How the hell could she tell the difference when the guy’s wearing makeup! Laviss looked back at Dr. Crowler and raised a brow. And she thought her father was weird.

Jaden finished his turn by setting a card down. Dr. Crowler, disinterested in his opponent, didn’t react much and played the spell Confiscation. Laviss winced as the man paid a thousand life points to see Jaden’s hand and tossed his Monster Reborn to the graveyard. He then set two face downs and played Heavy Storm. Jaden’s card was gone, but he wasn’t let down by it.

The boy grinned when Dr. Crowler’s cards were destroyed as well. “HA! Did you forget you had two cards out on the field yourself?”

“Now, now–you mustn’t speak out of turn young scholar.” mocked Dr. Crowler. Soon the field turned dark and foggy.

Jaden looked around him anxiously. “What’s happening?”

“Nothing’s happening… yet.” Suddenly, two golden worms with fangs and claws came out. “But that’s about to change.”

“This isn’t good,” mumbled Laviss. Syrus gave her a puzzling looked.

Seeing his face, Bastion explained. “The two trap cards Dr. Crowler had on the field are called Statue of the Wicked. It’s a trap that creates a token monster when destroyed. That’s why he played Heavy Storm.”

“Ok… but what does that mean?” asked Syrus.

“It means Dr. Crowler’s about to summon something big,” answered Laviss. At her words, Crowler sacrificed his tokens to summon Ancient Gear Golem. Without hesitation, Crowler destroyed Jaden’s Elemental HERO Avian.

“Jaden’s monster didn’t stand a chance!” commented Syrus. “His defense was way too low.”

“And that’s not the half of it.” Bastion added. “When Ancient Gear Golem attacks a monster in defense mode, the difference between its attack points and the monster’s defense points gets dealt to the opponent as damage.”

“But that would mean… Jaden’s life points are gonna take a hit!!” yelled Syrus. Jaden’s life points went from 4,000 to 2,000; while Dr. Crowler had 3,000.

Crowler laughed at Jaden’s crestfallen head. “Don’t feel bad. This is the top dueling school in the country. Some people aren’t… cut out… for….” Crowler stopped as Jaden started to laugh.

When he finally stopped, he, with a smile, looked at the teacher dead in the eye. “Boy, I really want to come to this school now. You really know your stuff teach.” He drew. “Okay, I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode and place a card face-down.”

“A Kuriboh? HA!!” Dr. Crowler laughed. “To me, it’s a pedestrian. Even one with wings, its defense points is still no match for my Ancient Gear Golem. It’s a textbook mistake, don’t feel bad.” He drew. “Now let’s finish this. Ancient Gear Golem, attack with Mechanized Melee!!” Winged Kuriboh was destroyed; however, Crowler raised a brow when he saw Jaden’s life points were the same. “Why isn’t it decreasing?”

“That’s because on the turn Winged Kuriboh is destroyed I take zero damage,” Jaden said plainly. The crowd let out gasps and voiced their surprise at the card’s effect. Crowler, on the other hand, looked off-putting.

The teacher composed himself and tsked. “Fine–I guess your lame little monster saved you there.” Laviss frowned. She was slowly starting to dislike this professor.

“Hey, slow down there teach. You may have beaten him but that doesn’t give you the right to call him lame.” Jaden defended.

“Oh yes, I forget how attached you new duelists are with your monsters. I’m so sorry.” He said mockingly.

“Yeah, well you should… because by attacking my Winged Kuriboh you set off my trap card, Hero Signal. That brings out my second Elemental HERO, Burstinatrix.” Jaden then drew. “First off, I’m gonna bring back Avian to my hand with the spell The Warrior Returning Alive, whom I’m sending out on the field.”

“Oooh okay… another amateurish mistake, but this good, this good. Now would someone like to tell our little friend his mistake–”

“I wasn’t done yet.” interrupted Jaden. “I know my two HEROs aren’t powerful by themselves. But if I can form them together, well that’s a different story. And I have the card to do that!”

The crowd murmured as he used the spell Polymerization to fuse Avian and Burstinatrix to create Elemental HERO Flame Wingman.  Several were in awe of the red and green-winged creature as it appeared on the field.

“Jaden managed to pull out a fusion!” Syrus said happily. He was one of the people in awe.

“Indeed. With Flame Wingman, he can deal damage to the opposing player equal to the attack of their own monster it destroys in battle.” added Bastion. The little boy gasped. Hope was starting to fill up in his eyes. Maybe Jaden stood a chance.

“Don’t get too happy Syrus,” Laviss interjected. “You have to remember, Flame Wingman’s attack is only twenty-one hundred. It falls short of Ancient Gear Golem’s three thousand.”

Syrus turned his smile into a frown. “And I thought Jaden had this in the bag.” he pouted.

“Well, if your friend’s as good as he says he is. He might find a way,” said Bastion.

“D–Did we really seem like friends?” Syrus said with a dreamy face.

Laviss giggled and turned around. “Don’t worry. If Jaden doesn’t want to be your friend, I’m more than happy to be yours.” Syrus ducked his flushed face. It only made her laugh. “Seriously though, I had him down all wrong. He seems like a nice guy. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind being friends with you.”

“Thanks, Laviss,” said Syrus and tried to hide his blush. To his demise, it wasn’t working. Their attention went back to Jaden when he played his field card, Skyscraper.

“Flame Wingman attack Ancient Gear Golem!!” cried Jaden.

“Fine with me, bring him on. This sad excuse of a field card hasn’t lowered my Golem’s attack points by one point.” Crowler bragged as Flame Wingman came closer to him.

“You’re right Teach. Skyscraper hasn’t lowered your monster’s attack points. What it’s done is raised mine by a total of one thousand!”

Dr. Crowler went rigid. He then put his hands out as to stop the incoming monster. “Wait!! T–Timeout!!” Crowler screamed like a girl when his Golem took the hit and was blown up to pieces. He looked at the pile of rubble that was once his glorious monster. “Th–This can’t be!! He was my very best card!!”

“And ’cuz of my Wingman’s special ability, the attack points of your Golem get dealt to your life points.” Crowler cried even more as the remainder of his life points was gone.

The audience fell into cheers and applause. Half of them were in total shock that a freshman managed to defeat one of the school’s top professors. Laviss couldn’t help the smile on her face as she clapped with the crowd. Jaden might have come off as arrogant but his boastfulness was pure confidence. He proved that he was a great duelist. She couldn’t wait to duel him one day.

After his round of applause, Jaden quickly made his way up the stairs again. When he was at the top he asked, “Well? How was it?”

“I’m very impressed!” said Laviss.

“Yes, it was–a good duel.” complimented Bastion.

“You went up against Dr. Crowler!! A teacher from Duel Academy!!” cried Syrus. “Jaden, you really ARE great!!”

“Aw, shucks. I wasn’t that great.” Jaden said with slight embarrassment.

He laughed off his embarrassment as Syrus kept flattering him. But it stopped when he saw a suspicious guy dressed in a black suit with sunglasses came towards them. Laviss, Bastion, and Syrus silently questioned why he stopped laughing. They all turned their heads to the man that ceased his joy.

Laviss immediately blushed when she saw who it was. “OOh… he’s here?” The man in the suit nodded, making Laviss slightly sad.

Jaden raised a brow. “You know this guy Laviss?”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “As much as I like to stay and chat with you guys, I gotta go. My ride's here.”

“O-Oh… well it was nice meeting you,” said Syrus. Bastion nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, we’ll see you at Duel Academy… right?” said Jaden.

Laviss smiled. “But of course! Until then,” she said and left with the silent man.

Coming down the lobby, Laviss sighed as she and the man walked towards the entrance. Outside, she took a deep breath. Her heart was pounding. She couldn’t believe she just started talking like that to three total strangers. Only dueling could bring out the blabbermouth in her. She was glad she had made some brand new friends. At least, she thought they were friends.

As Laviss followed the man to the parking lot, she felt something was missing.

The girl groaned when she remembered what it was. “Shit!”

The man turned his head and stared at Laviss. She laughed nervously as his sunglasses lingered on her. But before she could play it off, the man’s attention was alerted to something running towards her. Within seconds, he placed her behind him at a safe distance from whatever the threat was.

“I don’t mean any harm.” said a low voice. “I just came to return something.”

Laviss peaked from behind her bodyguard and saw a rather tall boy with long dark blue hair. He wore a long white and blue blazer uniform. The thing that caught Laviss’ eye was the manila folder he was holding.

Her face lit up and she quickly went around the man. “It’s ok. He’s telling the truth.” The bodyguard raised a brow, making Laviss sighed heavily. “Trust me, ok.” He raised his eyebrow even higher. “Ugh, look–just bring the car around. It’ll be fast. I swear!” Laviss pouted when he didn’t move. “If he tries anything on me, you know I’ll scream really loud that my brother will come out and tear him to bloody pieces.”

The man sighed softly before he hesitantly left her with the boy.

Laviss stared back at the man, making sure he was leaving. Once he was out of her view, she turned around and bowed. “I’m sorry. He wouldn’t have let me talk to you if I didn’t say that.”

“It’s fine. But I believe this belongs to you.” He held out her folder.

She quickly grabbed the packet and held it tightly against her chest. “Thank you so much!!” she said with teary eyes. “You wouldn’t believe what would’ve happened to me if I didn’t have this. Thank you… um–”

“Zane… Zane Truesdale,” he said smoothly.

Laviss smiled and bowed again. “Thank you, Zane. But um…” Zane gave her a look as she fidgeted with the folder. “You didn’t… by any chance… look at what was inside… right?”

“I don’t pry in anything that’s not my business.” He reassured her.

She sighed in relief. “I appreciate it. Thank you, again. If there’s anything I can do to repay–”

He held up a hand. “That won’t be necessary.”

Laviss shook her head. “It is. You see, if anyone saw the information inside this,” she waved the manila folder, “then my life is basically over.”

Zane smirked. “I’m glad to see I was helpful. But it’s not necessary.”

She gave him a look. “Are you sure? There has to be something. A favor? A request? Anything?” Zane shook his head no. Laviss looked at him. This was the first time someone said no to her, especially towards compensation. She sighed in defeat. “Fine, but my offer will stand.”

The two stared at each other in silence. Zane looked at her with a straight face, making Laviss slightly uncomfortable. Before he could open his mouth there was a loud honk. Laviss jumped in the air while Zane stood still as if nothing happened. The girl flushed with red glared at the black sleek car waiting behind her. “Um… I’ll see you later… Zane.” she mumbled and hurried to the car.

The boy nodded at her leave and watched as she opened the back passenger door. She gave him a small wave before going in and shutting the door. The car drove off in silence, leaving only a small dust of dirt behind.

* * *

     Laviss paced around the room she was in. Her left fist was balled up while the other had a phone near her ear. She did not look happy. After she had gotten in the car and had been heavily teased by her brother, Laviss was taken to the hotel she was going to be staying until her flight to Duel Academy. Once she was in her room, Laviss received a call from her father.

The girl glared heavily at the phone in her hand. “You LIED to me!” she cried.

“I did no such–”

“Yes you did, you LIAR!!”

The man sighed. “Please my little–”

Laviss shook her head. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Don’t you dare start with that!”

“Come now… you of all people should have seen this coming. After all, it is a private school.” Laviss groaned and hit her forehead with the phone. “Please don’t hit yourself with the phone, my little Alma.” She glared heavily at the cream-colored phone. “You do know you can’t blame anyone but yourself–”

“Myself?” Laviss was in disbelief. “HOW CAN I BLAME MYSELF? HOW IS THIS MY FAULT!!?”

“Don’t scream little Alma. Besides, wasn’t it you who wanted to go a school so badly.” Laviss huffed before she felt a small prick of guilt inside. “You did say you would do anything.”

“I DIDN’T MEAN THIS!! WHY!? THIS ISN’T–I CAN'T–YOU–JUST–GAH!!”

Her father chuckled at her distress. “Putting that aside, do you send me your test results?”

“Yes,” she grumbled. “Kiba told me he’ll have them faxed over to you after showing them to Koi. And before you say anything; no I didn’t look at them.” Her father hummed, which meant he didn’t believe her. “Really!! I didn’t!” Laviss made a face when she heard him hum again. Two hums usually meant he was teasing her. “This is stupid. I know where I’m gonna be placed.”

“Yes… but it’s good to have a little fun now and then, little Alma.” Laviss lowered her eyes but said nothing. “Now, getting back to the previous issue…”

Her eye twitched. “I’m going to say this one last time–”

“And I’m going to say this, little Alma. I can’t do anything about it. The dress code is final.”

“But–”

“Or do you not want to go.” Laviss went silent. “I can call up Duel Academy and put a stop to your registration so you can come back home. You’ll have your previous tutors and instructors and you can wear whatever you want. Or you can go to the Academy, but you have to wear whatever the uniform is, skirt and all.”

Laviss groaned. She didn’t want to do homeschooling for another three years. All that begging she did to both her brothers and father for months had finally given her the chance to go to a school; sure it was a dueling school but a school nonetheless.

“What’s it going to be my little Alma?”

Laviss huffed. She glared at the phone before muttering, “I wanna go.”

“What? Speak up–”

“I SAID I WANNA GO!” She yelled.

“Then I don’t want any more complaints about the uniform.” Laviss frown. “Please my little Alma.”

She let out a frustrated sigh. She hated herself deeply. But she knew this was her one chance to be with other kids her age. “…A–Alright. But promise me no surprise visits. Okay?” The other line was quiet for a moment. Laviss didn’t like that. “Please!!”

“I don’t know….”

Laviss frowned. “Oh come on!! It is bad enough I have to hide because of you! But having you there and see me in uniform… I rather go jump off a high bridge, into shark-infested waters, and be eaten alive than to have you be at school!”

“You make it sound like it’s a bad thing for me to be in public with you.”

She rolled her eyes. Maybe because it’s true–she wasn’t even safe at home. Laviss breathe in slowly, trying to calm herself. She knew her dad was trying to rile her up. “Please. I can, somewhat, deal with the skirt, but not you coming to the Academy. Please!”

“But I may have some business there; dealing with the Chancellor.” Her father taunted. “Who knows? I sure don’t.”

Laviss mustered up the deadliest glare she could ever make. She didn’t know what she hated. The fact that she couldn’t give her death glare in person or that her father was messing around with her. “You are so dead the next time I see you.”

“I love you too my little Alma. Take good care of yourself. Bye!”

Laviss ended the call and placed the phone back in its receiver. She then fell back on the small white sofa that was in the room.

Per her father’s request, she got a hotel room to stay in for the rest of the week. It was nothing fancy, just a bedroom, a bathroom, and a small living room connected to a kitchenette filled with food. The living room also had a balcony with a great view of Domino City.

The room was so quiet. She could hear the city going about its business. Laviss stood up and closed the doors that led in the noisy city. For a moment she stared out the window. From afar she could see the Kaiba Corporation logo lit up in red and blue. Her eyes went down thinking for a moment.

She then grabbed the curtains that accompanied the doors and blocked any sight of the outside world.


	2. Day One On The Island

     Laviss' leg bounced up and down rapidly in anxiety. She was seated in a rather small helicopter and it's been an hour since she saw nothing but water. She was beyond thrilled when she saw a small bit of land. She pressed her face against the window when the island came into view. Laviss was impressed by the large volcano surrounded by thousands of trees, and several structures peeking above the greenery. In front of the volcano was a grand building, centered right in the middle of the island. She wondered if that's where she'll be staying. She knew very little of the Academy, thanks to her father and the "games" he likes to make her play.

Ten minutes later the helicopter landed and Laviss rushed out in excitement. The sun hit her face and gusts of wind from the copter's propellers rustled her red locks around. Laviss stood on the dock and looked out to sea. She felt at peace.

The girl was more than happy to be here. The week she spent after the exam was slow and painful. She couldn't go outside so she spent most of her time reviewing her deck and having several self-dueling matches. It's wasn't boring but she did grow tired of it. What made and destroyed her during the week was her brother Kiba. He was ordered by both her father and eldest brother to check if she was still in the hotel room and alive. She didn't mind his company.

It was the teasing and his so-called "pranks" that she minded. Being trapped in a hotel closet for hours wasn't fun. Laviss thought today would never arrive.

"You must be Laviss." said a deep voice behind her. Turning around, she saw a bald man with a full beard. He was wearing a red blazer uniform with white trimming and a red tie.

"Yes, that's me," she answered. Laviss tried to get her tousled hair back to its original form.

"Welcome to Duel Academy! I'm Chancellor Sheppard, the headmaster of the school. It's a grand honor to have you here. I've been informed by your father and–err… eldest brother about your… issue. And I assure you that the selected few, who know, are reliable and have taken a vow of silence on the matter. The staff was given the strict rules your family requested, and I can personally guarantee Duel Academy is a safe place for you."

Laviss smiled and gave him a nod. "Thank you, Chancellor Sheppard. I appreciate everything you've done."

"No need. Now, the other students will be arriving much later. In the meantime, you can get ready for the first year's opening ceremony, which will be held in the main building."

She winced. "Does that mean I have to wear," Laviss closed her eyes and whispered, "my uniform?"

Sheppard looked confused. "Well… yes."

"If it's not too much trouble…" The girl fiddled with her hand, "can I have it altered if need be?"

"Of course, as long as it still follows the dress code and shows what dorm you're representing."

Laviss smiled greatly. She was more than happy that he didn't turn down her request. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She said and hugged the Chancellor. She thanked her lucky stars that the Headmaster was a reasonable man. Laviss grinned. She had found a loophole in her dad's condition.

Sheppard looked down at the young woman with a bewildered face as she hugged him. "You're… welcome?" He awkwardly patted her head. Laviss nodded and separated herself from him. The old man coughed his embarrassment away and took out a white envelope from his pocket. "Now then, in here is a map of the island and the key to your dormitory."

Laviss, confused and intrigued at the same time, took the envelope from him. "Well, then there's not much left," Sheppard said happily. "All of your luggage had arrived hours ago and have been placed in your dormitory. So you won't have to worry about that. I wish you the best of luck and hope your stay here will be a memorable one."

After bidding the man farewell, she was left alone. She opened the packaged she received and pulled out her map. The first thing that stood out was two red circles with a line connecting each other. One had the words, 'You're here' and the other, 'Your dorm'. She looked at the colorless house drawing of her dorm. It didn't say much of where she was placed in. She then took out a silver key. At the top, it had the number 105A engraved on it.

Her eye twitched, that still didn't tell her anything. Laviss knew very well her father was behind all of this.

She sighed. The only way she was going to know was to follow the map.

After a long journey through the island, and almost losing her way a few times, Laviss had come across a pale yellow building with a dark green roof. It wasn't large nor was it too small. The front of the building had a large jade tinted window. Next to the building was a white gazebo with green vines wrapped around the pillars that held it in place. In Laviss' opinion, it was cute.

Entering the building, she was amazed the inside was much bigger than she had anticipated. The walls were white with the tiled floor is a pale periwinkle blue. The doors to the students' rooms were made out of cherry wood, which stood out against the plain colors of the hallway.

The heels of Laviss' shoes echoed off the empty corridor as she searched for her room. She wondered if she would have to share with a roommate. Laviss smiled, liking the thought. She hoped the other dorm girls were nice and prayed she didn't act weird around them.

When she found room 105A the first thing Laviss notice when she walked in were two large boxes on a bed. Curious, she opened the boxes cautiously. She didn't know what to expect inside. She waited a few seconds before realizing nothing was coming out. Laviss looked inside and saw several packages. From the clear plastic, she saw white blazers with yellow trimming, yellow skirts, and three pairs of yellow boots. The uniform didn't look too bad. It was the skirt that bothered Laviss. It was shorter than she had expected.

She made a face as she lifted up one of them. "How the hell am I supposed to wear this? I don't even think it's long enough to cover my ass."

The girl glared at it for several minutes before she was reminded of her father. She took a deep breath. She was already at the school, which put a smile on her face. She was actually at a real school. The thought of it already set her mind off the uniform. Besides, the Chancellor did allow her to alter it. She was just going to have to do it without her father being aware of it. Knowing him he wouldn't allow her to.

For now, she had to suck it up.

Laviss opened one of her tops and looked over it more. There were pockets but there weren't big enough to put her hands in. Laviss made another face before she placed it down. She looked around the room to take her mind off the uniform again.

The walls were white with tan carpeting. After passing through the little hallway and what appeared to be her closet, she stood right in front of her bed with yellow covers and two white pillows. Both sides of the bed had a bedside table, the right side having a small lamp and a clock. In front of that was her luggage. Across the bed was a long desk with a widescreen computer and a black rolling chair. Next to it was a tall lamp and a wide window with green curtains that reached all the way to the floor. Finally, on the other side of the desk was a door leading to a small personal bathroom. Laviss frowned. She was a little let down that she wasn't going to be rooming with anybody.

Walking around the room, she noticed a device on her desk. It was a small blue PDA. "I don't think I have enough room to even put this in my pockets." Testing that theory, she found that she couldn't. It only went in halfway, with the end sticking out. Laviss growled. "I hate this uniform."

With a frustrating huff, she tossed the blazer and PDA on her bed. Her ears then picked up chattering outside her window. Walking over, she used two fingers and pushed the curtain a tad bit away. Peeking out, she saw several small groups of students walking around the campus. It made her smile.

She took one more look outside before reluctantly grabbing a pair of her uniform and changed.

* * *

     "Stupid, stupid skirt," grumbled Laviss. According to her map, the main building was the same building she saw on her helicopter ride. And from what she gathered she didn't need her map since there was a path near her dorm that led to it. As long as she followed it she would be fine. Or so she thought. It took a while but she managed to arrive at the front of the building. The structure was larger in person and had an ancient looked to it, with its large golden pyramid-like columns surrounding it. What really caught Laviss' eye were the three half ovals at the top; colored in blue, yellow, and red.

Not looking where she was going, Laviss bumped into someone. The impact made her land on her ass. In a daze, Laviss shook her head and tried regaining her bearings. Her ears twitched when she heard a scoff.

"Watch where you're going, trash." said a voice.

Before Laviss could say anything, the person left in a hurry. Laviss dusted herself off and looked back to see a mass of blonde hair bobbing up and down, confused as to what happened. She kept a mental note to stay away from blondes for a while.

After that fiasco, she went inside. The entrance had several tables and chairs donning the front. Passing that, she reached a large area with several corridors. But what made Laviss gape were the staircases. She couldn't even call them stairs. They were long and huge! She didn't think she could even get to the first floor without passing out. She looked up and saw several students make their way up the "stairs".

She let out a groan. This was turning out to be a bad day for her.

It took at least a good twenty minutes for Laviss to go up the monstrous flight of stairs. Once she reached what she thought was the first floor, she took a breather and sat on the last step. She cursed the person responsible for making these goddamn stairs so long.

When Laviss was good enough to walk again, she searched around the floor until she found the right room to be in. Inside she beamed with joy. Desks were arranged in three sections going down in steps. At the front was a stage with a big screen that had the logo for Duel Academy. There were also two doors in between the screen. On stage were several adults whom Laviss assumed were the teachers. In front of the stage were students in red, yellow, and blue lined up in rows of five.

She grinned with giddiness. Laviss was so excited that she didn't mind the fact that there were more stairs for her to go through. Once in line, she looked around for any familiar faces. She was relieved to find Bastion in front of the line next to hers. He was wearing the male version of her uniform. She didn't get to see more as the ceremony soon began.

On the big screen, Chancellor Sheppard came into view and started speaking. "Good morning and welcome my students! I'm Chancellor Sheppard, the headmaster here. And you are the best and brightest young duelists to be able to enter our school!"

As Sheppard's speech went on Laviss let her eyes wander around for a while. She spotted Syrus and Jaden, in another line at the end of the room. She slightly frowned at their red, the thought went away when she tried to suppress the giggles that were coming out of her. At the back of the room, Jaden had his head down as if he was thinking. But it was very obvious that he was sleeping with the drool coming out of his mouth.

"Now please get yourselves settled in at your assigned dorms. I think you will find them quite comfortable, depending on how you ranked of course." Sheppard chuckled. "I trust you all will have a great year and good luck with your studies." After that, the Chancellor disappeared from the screen and was replaced by the Duel Academy logo.

As soon as the headmaster was gone, everyone was dismissed and made a run to the exit. Laviss took her time, stretching and fixing a kink in her neck. The Chancellor's speech wasn't long but it was still boring to just stand and do nothing. Now she knew why Jaden opt to sleep than to listen to the old man. She was surprised he was able to stand while taking his little nap. She put the thought aside and slowly headed outside.

When Laviss came out, she spotted the red duo sitting on one of the statues that decorated the lawn of the main building. The boys had their attention on their PDAs that they didn't see her walk over.

"I don't know about you Sy, but I'm in the Slifer Red Dorm," said Jaden on the other side of the statue.

"That's cool! Same with me," replied Syrus happily and with a bit of relief.

"Hey Jaden, Syrus," said Laviss.

The little Slifer gave her a nod of acknowledgment while Jaden had a big smile on him. "Hey you two–you guys also in red?" he asked. Laviss was confused. But his words made sense when she turned around and saw Bastion. She was a bit surprised that she didn't hear him walk behind her.

Bastion took a moment before he said, "Let's see, yellow sleeves, yellow buttons, yellow collar," He then eyed Laviss, "yellow skirt, yellow belt, yellow boots–hmm, no I don't think so." The girl's eye twitched when he took note of her skirt.

Jaden made an o with his mouth and looked at his blazer. "So that's why Sy and I are dressed in red."

Laviss was stunned. She was slightly amazed that there was someone else who was even more clueless about the school than she was. Bastion, on the other hand, looked at the new Slifer in disbelief. "Please don't tell me you just figured that out now."

"So? Ever think I was color blind!" said a flustered Jaden.

"Well no, actually I didn't. Are you color blind?"

Jaden gave Bastion a look before he smiled. "No, but I could have been." He laughed. "I'll see you around the dorms then?"

Bastion gave him another look before he turned away. "I doubt that. Your dorms are over there." He pointed in the opposite direction of the Ra Dorm before he left the group. Laviss didn't know what to say. She wasn't expecting for Bastion to have a smug side to him. Then again, she didn't know him well to begin with. She bid farewell to the two Slifers before catching with her fellow Ra.

"You know you didn't have to be like that," Laviss said as she trailed after him.

"I apologize if I appeared uncouth," said Bastion. "I was just amazed he didn't know our uniforms represented the dorms we're in. I mean a person with a visual impairment could have figured it out."

"Hey cut him some slack." She said defensively. "So he didn't know. It's no big deal."

Bastion raised a brow. "I suppose. But it was undoubtedly evident."

Laviss shook her head as she followed the Ra. Silence adorned the two as they walked more towards their dorm. The awkward silence made Laviss fidgety. What was she supposed to say to him? She took a glanced at the boy. She had no clue. She only talked to a few boys in her lifetime; the majority being her father and brothers. The girl toyed with the hem of her skirt, glaring at it with even more hatred than before.

"I don't think we have been properly introduced." Bastion said as he stopped walking. "My name is Bastion Misawa." He held out a hand towards her.

Laviss took it with a smile. "I'm…" She hesitated for a moment before gripping the hand she had tighter. Bastion looked at her oddly. He didn't think it would be difficult to introduce one's name. Laviss shook her head before she continued. "Laviss–you can call me Laviss."

The Ra stared at her. He questioned her wording and wondered why she said it like that. But since he was just a stranger to her, it would be impolite to ask her such questions. Instead, he asked, "May I inquire as to why you enrolled in the Academy?"

Laviss took a good look at him before saying, "Why you wanna know?"

Bastion shrugged. "It's far better than making small talk regarding the weather."

She took his answer. "Well… to get better at dueling, since this is the best school for it." Bastion nodded in agreement. "But… honestly…" Laviss rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I never had a chance to go to a school, and this is the closest I'm gonna get."

"I see."

She shyly nodded. "Wh–What about you?"

Bastion smirked, which off put Laviss, and said. "I want to be the number one duelist there is using logic as oppose to those who duel with chance, their inner feelings, and whatnots."

Laviss looked at Bastion's firm gaze, his eyes filled with purpose _._  She didn't think she saw so much determination in a person. Laviss smiled and placed her hand out. "Well… I wish you luck and hope you achieve your goal."

Bastion nodded and grabbed her hand in his once more. "I appreciate the sentiment."

Time flew by as Bastion and Laviss walked around campus. The two were able to get to know each other a little better. Before they knew it, they had arrived in front of their dorm. They decided to separate and get settled in better.

Hours later, Laviss let out a deep sigh after put her last luggage bag inside her closet.

"There, that's the last of it," she said and dusted her hands off. "Thank goodness." Laviss paused when she heard several knocks. She glanced at her door and wondered who it could be. Laviss opened it and found a boy with dark green hair, who came up to her chest. "Err… hi?"

The boy stood still, gazing at her with his large doe-like eyes. Laviss didn't know what to do. She looked back at into her room, then at the small Ra. "Um… is there something you need from me?"

It was those words that took the boy back to reality. It didn't take him two seconds for his eyes to promptly look down at his feet. He muttered something very softly but Laviss couldn't hear him. Before she could ask him to repeat what he had said, the boy quickly bowed low, then ran away. Laviss was very confused. She went outside to catch up to him but the boy was nowhere in the corridor.

She scratched her head and muttered, "What was that about?"

"Excuse me." said a voice behind her. Laviss turned around to see a tall guy with short spiky orange and black hair. "All Ra students need to report to the dining hall. The welcome dinner is about to begin."

"Oh… ok," she said and closed her door. The boy nodded and went on his way. But before he could reach the end of the corridor, the Ra felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw Laviss smiling sheepishly at him. "Um… c–can you show me where the dining hall is?" she asked bashfully.

The boy led her upstairs where the welcome dinner was to be held. He excused himself as soon as they reached the entrance and went over to a table full of guys, who she presumed were his friends. Laviss awkwardly scanned the area for a place to sit. Her face turned slightly red as people stared at her walking down the open aisle. She then felt a hand on her shoulder and led her to two open seats. Baffled by what happened, she could only sit before she saw who had guided her to the table.

Bastion smiled politely as he sat next to her. Her mind went blank for a moment before she spoke. "Thanks?" She felt dumb for not thinking of a better response.

"Excuse me! May I have your attention please?" Everyone in the room became silent and turned their heads to a man seated at the head of their table. He had long black hair that stopped at his shoulders. And like all the other males, he was wearing the same yellow uniform with a black tie. "Good evening! To those who are new, I am Professor Sartyr. I'm the head of the Ra Yellow Dorm. First off, I would like to personally welcome you all to Ra Yellow. I hope your stay with us will be a memorable one." A round of applause slowly started before it progressed to a cheer of congrats. "Yes, yes. Now for you, older students, I'd like to welcome you back and hoped you've had a good break."

"HERE! HERE!" shouted a random guy. Before long another blissful cheer was conducted.

"Yes, well let us celebrate the start of a new term. Everyone dig in!" More applause was spread around the room as Professor Sartyr sat down.

As dinner commenced, Laviss took a look around. The dining room was slightly large, with potted plants in every corner of the room. It was also colored yellow like most things in the dorm. Behind Professor Sartyr was the huge window tinted green she saw outside. But as Laviss inspected around the room, the more she got nervous.

"Shit," she mumbled.

Bastion coughed as the piece of chicken he was eating went down the wrong pipe. He pounded his chest before he was able to breathe right again. "Pardon?"

"N–Nothing."

The air around them filled up with suspense. Bastion raised a brow. "What is it?" he asked softly.

Laviss bit her lip and mumbled, "I'm the only girl here."

Bastion could only blink as the girl to his left looked at him dead serious. He took a look around the room for himself and could only see a sea of yellow. Not only that but he saw she was right. Nowhere could you find another girl in the entire room. It was just pure boys.

"You're right. That's oddly strange. I thought there would be at least a few others females around, but now that I see…" Bastion continued gazing around. "It shouldn't trouble you. After all, you're not without an ally." Bastion turned to Laviss with a kind face.

Laviss thought about it in her head and nodded. "Thanks, Bastion."

"Don't mention it. Now, enjoy yourself," he said and went back to eating his food.

She sighed quietly and look in front of her. An older Ra was talking animatedly with the person to the right of him, unaware that the guy on his left took some of his food off his plate. She giggled when the Ra notice what the guy was doing and playfully hit him upside his head.

Bastion glanced at Laviss when he heard her giggle. He smiled as he saw her relaxed and did exactly as he said.

* * *

     After the welcome dinner, Laviss and Bastion bid each other goodnight and left to their respected rooms. Closing her door, Laviss ran and jumped onto her bed face first. However, the girl yelled out in pain when she felt something jabbing her stomach.

"What the–?" Laviss growled when she found out what had caused her pain. Without a second thought, she tossed the PDA on her bedside table without a care. She took the time to reflect her day, which wasn't all that bad. Although, she knew her legs were gonna kill her tomorrow with all those stairs the main building had. She sighed. To be honest she was a little homesick. She was even missing her father… just a tiny micro bit.

Laviss then tensed up when she heard a loud vibrating sound coming from her desk. "Speak of the devil." Laviss looked at the drawer that contained the phone. She contemplated her situation. One hand she wanted to speak to her father, just a tiny bit. But on the other, she didn't want to talk to him nor did she want to get up. It left her with the only logical thing to do. And that was to let the phone vibrate…

And vibrate.

The phone kept vibrating before it stopped. Laviss raised a brow at the drawer before the vibrating started again. She knew the phone would keep going if she didn't pick up. And knowing her father, he would be at it all night if wanted to. The girl groaned. She knew having an emergency phone would only be abused by her father. But it wasn't like she had a choice, she was outvoted by him and her brothers.

With a heavy sigh, she got up, went to her desk, and got the phone. Pressing answer, she said, "What."

"Is that any way to speak to me?" said a low voice.

Laviss' eyes widen when she heard the male's voice. She cried "Koi!" and went giddy, ignoring the man on the other line screaming in pain. "I can't believe you're calling me! It's been forever!"

She heard him humph. "I'm sorry if I'm negligent towards you. You know I have a company to run."

"But you can take a break once in a while," she said jokingly. "I miss you." Laviss heard the man let out a deep sigh. She knew he was feeling somewhat guilty, but he would never say it. "I rarely get to see you nowadays." She added.

"But you do see me."

Laviss eye twitched. "You know what I mean."

"I heard you got into Ra Yellow," Koi said, changing subjects.

She face went scared. "Oh, um… ye–yeah…" she trailed off. "You're not… angry with me… r–right?"

The line was silent, which made Laviss nervous. She knew he was mad to an extent. Of course, he would never admit it to her thought. "As long as you're comfortable with your placing, it doesn't matter if you're in Ra or Obelisk."

"Or Slifer," she added with mischief.

"Slifer is the lowest of the low; you don't belong there," he said quickly.

She rolled her eyes. "You really have issues don't you," Laviss said as moved the cell phone to her other ear. "Is there anything else big brother?"

"I just wanted to see if you were doing alright. Besides that, I have nothing else to discuss with you."

Laviss made a face. "Gee, thanks for making me feel like one of your employees."

The sound of papers being shuffled around and her brother muttering several incoherent things was on the other line. Laviss waited a while before Koi got back to her saying, "I'll call you later. I need to get back to work."

She sighed sadly. "Can't you stay on a little longer?"

"I need to go. I'll give you another call when I'm not too busy. Bye." The line then went dead.

"You always say that," said Laviss quietly as she placed her cell phone next to the PDA. She sank in her chair and did nothing but stared into space. It wasn't long before she remembered that she had class early in the morning. She decided to change and turn in for the night. Laviss fell asleep once she hit the mattress.

The room was quiet with the exception of the clock near her desk. Hours ticked away before a baby blue light glowed in the room. As the lights dim down, two balls of light: one red and one pastel purple appeared, hovering next to the hallway. Both orbs floated around until they got near Laviss.

The red orb hummed in thought. "It didn't work."

"There she is!" said the purple orb, ignoring what its comrade said. It then bobbled around happily above Laviss' head.

"Shut up! Do you want to wake her!?" The red orb whispered harshly. It then started glowing brighter. "Out of everyone–why the hell did they send me here with you!? The fucking charmer girls are a hell of a lot better than you."

"I'm sorry your highness." The purple orb mocked. The red orb lit up even brighter. "Now, who's the one that's gonna wake her up?" it teased.

The red orb would have said something, but instead, it went away from the purple orb and tried to calm down.

The purple orb went closer to Laviss' face and sighed. "I wished we came here earlier. We could've talked to her–" It stopped when it felt a glare aimed at it. The purple orb looked at its companion and said, "Oi, don't you pin this on me! I was the one who said we shouldn't have waited until dark–"

"No. I said that! You, on the other hand, being the dumbass moron you are, wanted to wait; and above all else, got lost eight times!"

"What do we do then?" The purple orb said changing subjects.

The red orb hovered in place for a bit until it started moving to the middle of the room. "We have to go back and try again another time."

"Aww! Can we stay?"

"No! And shut up! You're really going to wake her up this time with your fucking whining."

"But–" The purple orb shut up when it felt another glare; this time it was more intense with the urge of killing. It slowly left Laviss and joined the red orb. The same baby blue light had re-appeared and the two balls of light were gone from Laviss' room.


	3. Just Another School Day

     The room was dimmed with the only light source being the bright numbers shining from the digital clock. As soon as the clock turned seven, a loud beeping noise blared through the silence. The noise was constant that the white sheets on the bed suddenly shifted over. The body underneath it moaned as the beeping kept getting louder, and louder.

Laviss groaned. "Shut up!" She threw one of her pillows in the direction of the clock. A loud thump was made, but that didn't stop the clock from beeping on the floor. Laviss poke her head out from under her sheets. She glared hard at the clock, hoping her fierce stare could kill it from where she was. Yet it continued on with no sign of stopping. "Ugh! Alright! Alright already!"

The Ra got up and picked up the clock, which was in front of her little hallway. She turned the annoying device off and got ready for class. After showering and, halfheartedly, dressed in her uniform, she headed out of her room. But when she stepped outside, she slammed into something, or more importantly someone.

"I'm sorry!" said Laviss when she saw Bastion was her victim.

"Not to fret. You haven't caused any serious damage." He lightly rubbed his chest where Laviss had collided with him.

"You sure?" she asked. "I wouldn't want to send you to the infirmary like last time," she said nervously as the two started walking away from her room.

Bastion chuckled lightly and shook his head.

He knew she didn't mean any harm by it. Laviss had thought she was running late for class on her first day. The girl ran like there was no tomorrow, which blurred her vision to the point that she didn't know who she was mowing down the hall. Needless to say, she crashed head first into Bastion sending him backward harshly. A couple of students managed to help him get to the infirmary to get checked out, all the while Laviss accompanied them; wheezing, "Sorry" the entire trip. There weren't any injuries, just an aching back that would be fine but that didn't stop the girl from apologizing to him the whole day.

When Laviss and Bastion entered the Ra cafeteria, Laviss beamed with happiness as she took in the smell of food. "I can't think of anything else to start the day with," she said and headed straight to the counter where the trays were.

Bastion smiled to himself and watched his new friend quickly make her way to the stack of freshly made pancakes. He didn't seem to notice that he was staring at Laviss for quite a while until she called him out. "Come on Bastion! You can't possibly go without breakfast! It'll ruin your health."

The Ra turned his head away from her and nodded.

Laviss looked confused as to why he looked away but she didn't say anything about it. "I'll save you a seat." She took her tray in search for an empty table.

It's been about a week since they've been on the island. Classes were ok; however, there were two that Laviss wouldn't mind dropping on the spot. Other than that everything was great. She gets to be with Bastion, Jaden, and Syrus for several of her classes.

Though, to Laviss' slight dismay, she hasn't seen Zane around since she's been here. Laviss tried to shrug off the thought, but it kept coming back. For some reason, it bugged her that the older boy wasn't around. She was starting to think he might have been a ghost or a figment of her imagination.

"Is something the matter?" Laviss zone back to reality and saw Bastion sitting across from her with his own tray of food.

"I'm… good," she said half-heartedly. "Who do we have first today?" she asked, trying to sway the conversation to something else. Bastion didn't like that she did that. He nonetheless got out his PDA while Laviss began eating.

Laviss was about to take a bite out of her toast when Bastion said. "It appears we both have Dr. Crowler–"

_BANG!_  Bastion jumped. He was taken aback by Laviss' sudden impulse of hitting her head hard against the table. The impact was loud that it gained a few stares from the other Ras in the cafeteria.

Laviss moaned from her position. "Damn it… why? Why Bastion? Just… why?"

He pitied Laviss as she sat in misery. It's been known right off the bat that Dr. Crowler didn't like Jaden, because of their duel at the entrance exams. What was a surprise was another student had been added to Crowler's hate list, that student being Laviss.

She knew Dr. Crowler was a man but in her first class with him, she accidentally kept calling him Madam and Miss several times. She didn't mean to do it on purpose, but the professor didn't care whether it was on purpose or not. The Ra was now permanently on his Slackers-To-Hate-Forever List.

Bastion watched Laviss lift her head up and blow a few bangs away. He gave her a sympathetic look and said, "Try looking on the positive."

She rolled her eyes. "And what may  _that_  be?"

"The sooner you're in there, the sooner you can get his class over with."

Laviss let out a deep sigh. She could only imagine what Crowler would want to do to her this morning. Looking at her un-eaten toast she suddenly felt sick. With not much of an appetite anymore, Laviss threw the piece of bread on top of her half-eaten stack of pancakes. "There really isn't a ground for me to oppose this… no matter how much I hate it," she mumbled.

Bastion nodded and stood up with Laviss. He then accompanied her out to her doom; as she would call it. 

* * *

     Laviss swayed her arms around and took her sweet time getting to the top of the godforsaken stairs she hated. She hoped that maybe, just maybe, Crowler decided to cancel his class, making her have a free period instead. However, when she and Bastion came to the entrance of his classroom, there was no note that said the class was called off.

The Ra made a face. She then turned her head around and asked, "Do I really  _have_  to?"

Bastion crossed his arms. "Yes, standing here will only prolonging the inevitable." Laviss gave Bastion her best puppy-dog eyes. He knew what she was trying to do and immediately turned his head away from her. "Don't you dare–besides, you won't have Dr. Crowler for the rest of the day or tomorrow. You might as well get it over with."

Laviss pouted before she gave in. "I guess… you're right," she said grudgingly.

"I know I am," he said proudly and gave her a small push.

Bastion chuckled as the girl slouch her form and went through the door. Ever since their walk together on their first day on the island, Bastion had gotten along better with Laviss every passing day. He felt at peace with her. He was more than relieved she wasn't like most girls he'd known before: gossipy, conceited, only talking to him just to get answers to their homework, etcetera.

Within the short time, he'd gotten to know her, he'd already considered her a friend, which was a surprise to him as he didn't have a lot of friends and it took more than several days for him to call them a friend.

As the two walked down the stairs, Laviss was surprised by someone placing their arm around her shoulders. She was about to punch the wise guy who dared touch her until she saw who it was.

"It's good to see you Lavs!" Jaden said with a smile.

Laviss stood quiet and thought over what the brunet said. "Lavs?"

"Yeah! It's short for Laviss. Just like how I call Syrus, Sy." Jaden looked at her neutral face and backtracked. "I mean–it's just an idea I had. Is that ok? You don't mind… right?" He looked worried, thinking he might have offended the girl.

She shook her head vigorously. "No, it's alright. It's just… no one outside my family has ever given me a nickname before."

Jaden smiled brightly. "Well, since we're friends we're calling you Lavs from now on," He turned to his short friend with Laviss still around his arm, "Right Sy!"

"Uh… right, Jaden… I guess." said Syrus shyly. "Hey… Lavs."

"Sy," said Laviss trying out the new nickname for him. She was beaming with happiness. She didn't think she would ever get a nickname from friends.

Bastion, who had been ignored by the three, watched their conversation. His eyes wandered onto Jaden's arm and slowly began narrowing. He felt a bit off. Bastion tried shaking off this sickly sensation he was going through, but it wasn't going anywhere.

Laviss looked worried when she saw her friend appear unwell. "Bastion, you ok?"

He nodded and looked away from her for the second time. "Yes, I just need to sit down for a moment." He then made his way down to his regular seat. The three looked at each other, then at the smart Ra, who left.

"I better go too," Laviss said and gently shrugged off Jaden's arm. "Crowler's gonna be here any second and you don't want him yelling at us this early on, right Jaden."

He agreed with her and left with Syrus to their seats, which were at the front of the classroom. Laviss quickly went to the middle row and sat next to Bastion. She looked concerned as he had his face covered with both of his hands.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"I think so." Bastion said through his hands. "I'm just feeling a bit lightheaded."

"Maybe you should go to the infirmary," she suggested.

He shook his head. "No, no–it's passing. I should be fine."

She stared at the boy as he moved his hands away from his face and gave her a small smile. She was still unconvinced but said nothing as Dr. Crowler walked right in as the bell rang. When he reached his desk at the very front of the class he took attendance, then quickly went into his lecture–continuing on from their last session.

After his overly long speech, which put many to sleep, he soon started his "pop quiz". It wasn't so much as a quiz as it was a game to see how many students, mainly Ras and Slifers; he can trip up and call a dunce.

Laviss hoped she wouldn't get called out this time. But it was a wish that went unfulfilled when Dr. Crowler called on her first, as usual.

"Miss. Laviss," Dr. Crowler grinned with pure evil. "Why don't we begin with you?" Laviss silently groaned and stood up from her seat. She knew deep down the woman/man/thing was just waiting to be pleased with a wrong answer from her. "Please explain to the class what a chain is and give an example of one."

The Ra was more than glad that she knew the answer. So far Crowler's attempts were futile. He kept putting her on the spot with questions she knew. She just hoped her luck wouldn't run out anytime soon.

"A chain is a stack that determines the order of resolution of multiple cards and effects." Laviss looked at Crowler, who appeared a little red in the face. Smiling, she continued. "One example would be if Duelist A activated Smashing Grounds. Their opponent then could play a card like Magic Jammer to counter. And if Duelist A were to stop his opponent's counter he could play Seven Tools of The Bandit. A chain can go on as long as it can; from two cards to four or more."

Crowler growled as Laviss sat down. "Well… it's not the  _best_  answer. But it's… passable."

Her eye twitched. She tried to keep the urge to punch the teacher at bay. Laviss knew he would love to punish her for it if she did. For the remainder of the period, Laviss carelessly watched Crowler continue his quiz.

"Miss. Rhodes, please name the groups in which duel monster cards can be categorized." Crowler asked an Obelisk girl with long dirty blonde hair.

Standing up, the girl answered, "Duel monster cards can be grouped into Normal, Effect, Fusion, and Ritual monsters, Trap cards, and Spell cards. Trap cards can be divided into Normal, Counter, and Continuous Traps. Spell cards can be separated into Normal, Continuous, Equip, Quick Play, Ritual and Field spells."

Crowler clapped and beamed with pride. "Perfect! Well done Alexis!" he praised. "Of course I wouldn't expect anything less from one of my Obelisks." Laviss scoffed quietly which earned her a nudged from Bastion. She gave him a look which he countered with his own. "Now then… who do we question next?" said Crowler as he scanned the class. "Mr. Truesdale!" Syrus yelped out loud when he heard his name and immediately stood up. "Explain to the class what a Field Spell is."

"Um–uh… a–a… a Field Spell is um…." Syrus started shaking from the pressure of answering the question. "Well… uh… it does–err–it's the… th–the thing that affects the thing… Th–That is um–"

"Even pre-duelists know the answer to this, you Slifer Slacker!" shouted an Obelisk boy. Everyone around him laughed at his remark.

"No! I know this! It's um–uh…." Syrus got redder by the second. He knew what to say but his mouth wasn't cooperating.

"Relax Sy, you totally got this," reassured Jaden.

"I think not," said Crowler. "Sit down." Syrus did as he was told. "Now would someone please give me the answer? Preferably someone not wearing red, thank you." Laviss glared at Crowler as he made most of the Obelisks laugh.

"You know something Teach, you really shouldn't go and make fun of us Slifers like that," said Jaden as he confused Crowler. "I mean, I'm a Slifer and I beat you. So when you make fun of us, you're really making fun of yourself."

Laviss smiled softly as she watched Jaden grin and give a thumbs-up to Syrus. She then looked at her red-faced professor pull on a handkerchief with his bare teeth.

After that the bell rang, ending Crowler's class. As everyone came out of the classroom, Jaden was quickly tackled from the side by an unknown force. The Slifer didn't know the extra weight was coming at him so both of them landed on the floor. He closed his eyes, thinking he was gonna get punched at. But after nothing happened, he opened his eyes and saw Laviss smiling down at him.

"Jaden that was great!" cried Laviss as hovered over him. "Thank you for finally shutting up Crowler!"

"Yeah, well he shouldn't have made fun of Sy or Slifers at that matter," said Jaden.

She couldn't agree with him more as she got off of him. Laviss then turning around and gave Syrus a kindly look. "Are you going to be ok, Sy?"

"Y–Yeah… I just need a minute," said Syrus who was still a bit red.

Throughout all this, Bastion passed by them without thinking. He felt his gut feeling out of place again. Laviss noticed him leaving without saying anything. It made her worried, so she quickly bid Jaden and Syrus a fast goodbye before going after him.

"Bastion, wait up!" she cried.

But the Ra didn't hear her. His only concern was the ill feeling he had. Not to mention he was getting a small headache again. Was he ill? Maybe he should have a visit to the infirmary. This has never happened before–was it something he ate?

"––tion! BASTION!"

The boy was taken away from his thoughts when he crashed into something hard.

Laviss winced when Bastion walked straight into a wall. She quickly went to his side and asked, "Are you ok!?"

Bastion moaned and held his nose. Laviss gently placed a hand on him and sat him down on the ground slowly. She tried moving away his hand to see what the damage was, but Bastion put up a fight. After a minute or two she finally won. Laviss was relieved to see that he wasn't bleeding. "You look fine. But just in case, we'll go to the infirmary."

He nodded and stood up with her help. "Aye kan gu der mishelf." he said with his hand covering his nose. "Yu et oin…" Bastion paused as he saw Laviss make a face. "Wat?"

"I'm not leaving you until you're in the hands of Ms. Fontaine," she said and tugged on his sleeve. "Come on."

"Wat boot claz?" he asked as he was being dragged by his blazer.

"Professor Sartyr is a reasonable man. He'll understand when I explain the situation." Laviss said. "Besides, you're my friend and I gotta see if you're going to be ok."

He said nothing as he let the girl pull him all the way to the infirmary. Bastion was touched to know that he was important to her. It was at the end of their journey to the infirmary that his stomach felt better and his headache went away.

The day quickly passed and it wasn't long before the final bell rang.

Bastion sighed with slight content with the test he had finished. Ignoring the moans of frustration and stress from his fellow classmates, he turned in his papers and left the classroom. He then made the journey from the main building all the way to his dormitory alone.

He was a bit glum that Laviss couldn't partake on his trek back, but seeing as she had Gym for her last class and he, mathematics, it was to be expected. The thought of waiting for her did cross his mind. However, he wasn't sure if he would be able to catch Laviss, seeing as he didn't convey any notion of waiting for her after class.

Besides, going to the Gym and missing her, then trying to hunt her down like a madman was the last thing he wanted.

The smart decision was to wait and meet her at the dorm, most likely during dinnertime.

Bastion closed the door to his room and took off his shoes. He sat down on his bed and thought back to his female friend again. He noticed he's been doing more of that recently throughout the day. The Ra then touched his nose slightly.

During his visit with Ms. Fontaine, he was more than glad to know he didn't break his nose. But he felt even grateful that Laviss had stayed until the nurse gave him the okay to leave. Bastion smiled. He didn't know why or how, but he felt a whole lot better afterward.

And that slightly bothered him.

He knew something like that shouldn't annoy him. But it didn't make sense to him. How was he feeling sick one moment and then the next being better than ever? He scrunched his face in thought. According to Ms. Fontaine, he was fine. But why did he keep feeling ill at odd times? Bastion racked his brain, but nothing came to mind. All of this oddity was getting him frustrated.

The Ra closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. "I'll reflect on this another time," he mumbled to himself. Perhaps, something will come whilst doing some work. He nodded and went over to his desk to start up his computer. 

* * *

     Laviss groaned. She was in her room, face first on her bed. She didn't know how long she'd been lying down, but she was too sore to even care. Her body was aching everywhere. She had thought that her soft, comfy bed would ease her sore limbs, but the pain was still there. Laviss moaned in agony.

Gym was getting harder for her. She hated the fact that there was a Phys. Ed. class in school. The Ra tried to immediately change her schedule, to opt out of P.E. and do something else. But it was a no-go. Ms. Fontaine, who was also the P.E. teacher, stated it was mandatory for first and second years to have the class… no matter what.

Laviss was horrified, to say the least. In the end, she thought it would be better, in her case, to do the class. In her mind, possibly, she would be able to get used to it and maybe, just maybe, she would be able to get stronger. Maybe not be so pathetic when it came to psychical activities. But it wasn't so. Every class they did everything that made Laviss be pushed to her limit: dodge-ball, tennis, basketball, softball, soccer, etcetera….

Today's class physical activity was the one thing she failed miserably at… track.

To Ms. Fontaine, the class was starting off easy, just a two-mile run. Laviss pleaded with the nurse to not do the run. But she refused. Needless to say, she didn't do very well. In fact, Laviss was dead last with the slowest time in the class. Ms. Fontaine was very concerned about how bad she did. She thought giving Laviss extra laps around the gymnasium would help the Ra's running. It did anything but help. After Laviss was finished with her extra assignment, she hated everything; from Ms. Fontaine to how far the Ra Dormitory was from the gym.

How she even got to her dorm she didn't know. The journey was a blur. It was a miracle that she even made it back without keeling over to her death. All she wanted was to be in her room and never come out again.

Laviss moaned as she flipped to her side. With her eyes closed, she mumbled, "I… hate… gym…."

A few hours and a long deserving nap later, Laviss and her aching bones, were up. The first thing she noticed was that she was late for dinner. She didn't have the strength to walk to the dining hall, but she was curious about Bastion's condition. The last time she saw him was in Banner's class, and that was hours ago. With a limp, the Ra went outside and slowly headed to dinner. But as she walked towards the end of the hallway, something bumped into her hard. The impact made the person fall on top of her.

Laviss groaned in pain. It wasn't that the person was heavy, but they knocked the air out of her and it hurt like hell. Laviss looked to see who her attacker was and was surprised to see it was the little Ra that had run off from her on her first day. The boy babbled multiple sorries before he immediately got off of her. Laviss tried to get up, but she was too weak. She ended up slipping and landing on her ass again. She cried in pain. Today wasn't her day.

She glanced at the little Ra, who was red and looking everywhere but her. "Would you mind helping me?" she asked.

The little Ra turned redder and nodded dumbly. Laviss held out her hand, which he took, and in one swift pull, she was back on her weary feet. Laviss sighed and gave her thanks to him. He said nothing and faced the ground. Laviss raised a brow at his behavior but she ignored it.

"Um… ha–have you seen… m–my friend?" the Ra boy suddenly spoke up. "H–He's pretty big… a–and has b–bl–black hair…."

"No, sorry I haven't," said Laviss as the boy kept looking down.

The Ra nodded and bowed low to Laviss. He then quickly ran away from her. She followed the boy with her eyes until he turned the corner. Laviss shrugged the boy's manners and continued walking.

At the Ra dining hall, Bastion was uneasy. He glanced at the clock that was above the entrance way of the hall. It's been twenty-two minutes since dinner had started and Laviss had yet to arrive. The Ra shook his head. He knew he shouldn't be worried. For all he knew, she wasn't in the mood to eat or she simply was too caught up in her homework to come to dinner. Bastion looked at the empty chair to his left, then at his half-eaten food.

Bastion picked at his food. He was starting to feel unwell again.

Another ten minutes passed and to his relief, he saw Laviss walking slowly in. He questioned why she had a small limp. Before he could say anything about it, she gave him wearied, 'Hey' and took the seat right next to him.

"How's the nose?" she asked.

"It's fine, thank you," he replied. "May I ask why–"

"I look like shit?" she said jadedly. Bastion paused for a moment before he nodded. Laviss threw herself over her empty plate and moaned, "Gym."

Bastion understood, but that still didn't give him enough context as too why she was drained. For the most part, the days she had gym she would regain her some of her strength by dinnertime; unless Ms. Fontaine pushed Laviss beyond her limit this time. Bastion looked at the girl moaning with exhaustion. He hesitantly patted one of her outstretched arms and tried to get her to eat something.

Dinner was silent for the most part. Little by little, Laviss started to feel better. It was towards the end of dinner when she spotted the little Ra again, standing by himself at the entrance way. Laviss excused herself and headed to the lonely boy.

"Hey," she said as she neared him. The boy noticed her and quickly faced the floor. He gave a small, "Hello" to her, but it was barely heard from the noises of the dining hall. "You had any luck finding your friend?"

"N–No," he said shyly.

"Maybe he's here?" she said as she scanned the room. The small Ra slowly looked up and saw her scan the room. But as soon as she turned her head back to him, he quickly looked down like he hadn't moved at all. Out in the hallway, Laviss saw the biggest guy she'd ever seen in her life. He had fit the description that the tiny Ra had given her, which wasn't much. "Is that him?" she asked, pointing to the big Ra.

The large boy stared at the entrance of the meal hall. His eye shimmered when he spotted Brier and quickly made his way to him. "There you are, Brier!" said the big Ra. "I was looking everywhere for y–" he stopped himself when he took note of Laviss.

Laviss sensed her presence was making the large guy uneasy but made no comment about it. "You've found him," she said to Brier. "Guess I'm done here."

Brier turned red again. Laviss didn't notice as he bowed his head really low. "Thank you," he said quietly.

She nodded and went back to her table.

Bastion, who saw the whole thing, eyed the two Ras. He then glanced back at Laviss when she came back to him. "May I ask what that was about?" he asked as she sat down.

"It's nothing. I was just helping out someone," she said as she helped herself to a roll.

The Ra looked back at the duo that she left and then started feeling ill again. Bastion placed a hand to his head. Not this again. He looked at the girl finishing her meal with content. Nothing changed about her yet something was different.

The boy shook his head. This nonsense was starting to infuriate him. 

* * *

     A pair of arms stretched out to the white ceiling as a yawn accompanied it. Laviss grabbed one of the books on top of her desk and started flipping the pages. "Seriously, Crowler really wants me dead," said Laviss as she rubbed her eyes.

After dinner, Laviss and Bastion bid each other goodnight and she returned to her room to begin her homework. She would have finished before dinner, but Gym had drained her life. She had no choice but to do her work right now. Though dinner seemed like ages ago and she still wasn't finished. Sleep was the only thing Laviss wanted, but she couldn't have it until her homework was done. She knew that if she didn't do it right now she'll never get it done in time. And she really didn't want Crowler on her back for not doing her work.

"Crowler would like it… if I didn't do it… be another way… to make… my… life…." Laviss let out a loud yawn.

She didn't know if she could stay awake. The girl shook her head and started reading the book in her hands. Slowly but surely, Laviss' vision started to blur. She kept shaking her head to get rid of her drowsiness. But it was no use. She was nodding off. It wasn't long before her head was on top of her textbook with her eyes closed.

A few hours later the same baby blue light from before glowed in Laviss' room. The two balls of light were in the room again, but this time floating around Laviss' head.

"Great! Once again we're here and she's asleep!" said the purple orb.

"Don't complain. It's your fault for being so slow that we always come here late." said the red orb.

"Well excuse me for not being as fast as the likes of  _you_!" jeered the purple orb.

"Shut it." ordered the red orb. "Can you not be you for five seconds?" The purple light glowed brighter. It was about to say something back but the red orb cut them off. "We're going to have to try this again… maybe in a few weeks–"

"WHAT!"

The red orb growled. "Shut up! Do you really want to wake her!?"

"But why?" moaned the purple orb.

"You know why. We can't be coming here every single day; it uses up too much energy. Until we meet her in our full forms, we can't be here too long. I thought you listened to what the whining dumbass mage was saying."

"Maybe… I might have tuned out a bit."

The red orb sighed. "Look, if we're lucky maybe we can have her see us the next time we come back. For now, let's leave."

"Wait a minute will ya." said the purple orb.

The red orb watched as the purple orb went behind Laviss. And like magic, Laviss floated up in the air and the covers to her bed were half removed. The orb gently placed her on her mattress without Laviss ever stirring from her slumber.

Once she was tucked in the purple orb said, "Ok now we can go."

In a flash, the baby blue light appeared again. It surrounding the two balls and made them disappear. But not before a metal band materialized around Laviss' right arm. Her bedroom lights were then turned off.


End file.
